Sea turtle is pulled from the water so beachgoers can take selfies

A sunny day at the beach turned to fear for this sea turtle, which was apparently pulled from his home under the waves by beachgoers looking for a photo op.

"Some were lifting it as if they were lifting weights, and then throwing it harshly in the sea, and others were jumping on it just to take pictures with it," said Jason Mier, executive director for Animals Lebanon, which has since been caring for the turtle.

Although incidents with turtles may not be as common in Lebanon, clashes with wildlife have occurred before, according to rescuers.

"We have seen a similar incident around a month ago, but unfortunately, the sea turtle could not be saved," Zeina Nassar from Green Area told InsideEdition.com. "These incidents threatening sea turtles do not occur so often in Lebanon. However, we have highlighted issues of storks being killed just for the sake of taking photographs with them."

Despite past troubles, rescuers are optimistic the turtle will be able to return to the sea, and are thankful that they were able to share his story.

"We are glad that highlighting this issue has raised more awareness on the importance of marine organisms," Mier said. "The articles on the endangered sea turtle that went viral and were being shared on many local and international media outlets, met our goal, saving the environment and saving endangered animals."